Updates on scrapping or transportation bills?

[brizee]

I'm having a little trouble deciphering this website.

If I'm reading this right the scrapping package hasn't been touched since March.

And the RTA hasn't had any activity since May in the Senate, or January in the house.

None have been passed by either level.

Am I interpreting these things correctly?

[DetroitPlanner]

You're correct. Call your legislators!

[Richard]

If you use MCS you can bypass the city and state and form a RTA from there,use those funds for the building and the neighborhood and RTA in one shot.

[DetroitPlanner]

If you use MCS you can bypass the city and state and form a RTA from there,use those funds for the building and the neighborhood and RTA in one shot.

I don't understand. How do you work towards a coordinated system by buying a building? Right now the RTA cannot exist due to state law and cannot have taxing authority to operate under state law. How would buying a building that needs $100 millions worth of work accomplish this goal? You can't run trains out of it if you don't have the money to operate trains. Even if you could run trains out of it, what was considered a good location 90 years ago is not considered a good location now, particularly since the RTA would provide regional service and the MCS was built only to provide continental service.

[Richard]

I don't understand. How do you work towards a coordinated system by buying a building? Right now the RTA cannot exist due to state law and cannot have taxing authority to operate under state law. How would buying a building that needs $100 millions worth of work accomplish this goal? You can't run trains out of it if you don't have the money to operate trains. Even if you could run trains out of it, what was considered a good location 90 years ago is not considered a good location now, particularly since the RTA would provide regional service and the MCS was built only to provide continental service.

No where did I post anything about buying the building,I said use.To be more specific a portion of it.

You guys need a RTA and you have yourself convinced it is never going to happen because of anything you can think of that fits,and I am speaking in general.

Why cannot MCS be a transit center,nobody says it has to be the only center just one of several.I am sure it was not purchased because it looks pretty,bottom line it is still a strategic location.

Because it still has the potential it qualifies for FTA funding which uses 6 guidelines and works with HUD,the goal is to enhance transportation via ,light rail,heavy rail,buses,taxi stands, etc. and because FTA works hand in hand with HUD the funding not only applies to the transit aspect it also applies to rehabilitating the portion of the building that will be used transit related it also recognizes the importance of the surrounding neighborhood which is where HUD kicks in allocating funds to improve the neighborhood.

Why MCS ? Because it is a tool.

It gets partially rehabilitated as a transit center. Win
It becomes a base for a RTA. win.
It become the nucleus for getting light rail off of the ground now. win.
It becomes a stop on the wolverine line. win.
It becomes a tool for neighborhood funding improvements for the surrounding neighborhood. win.
It provides direct jobs now. win
It does not use or need local currant funding to get it off of the ground. win
When completed it will enhance property values connected to the transit system. win.

If the currant RTA cannot provide a solution give them one and take it private. It has been done before and it is no different then private individuals running a 3 mile street car.

Read this piece and tell me again why it cannot be done.

http://www.masstransitmag.com/articl...e-public-realm

If you are still interested I can provide you even more examples from across the country.

[DetroitPlanner]

Here is the main reason why MCS would not work.

You don't seem to understand there is no currEnt RTA. What we have now is akin to transit anarchy. You are proposing to add to this and be an enabler.

MCS, owned by a troll who will not sell it to someone who wants it, not even for a billion dollars. LOSE

To restore it, it would take tens of millions if not 100 million dollars. LOSE

It would have limited use. Roosevelt Park is not in a central location. Yes it worked well for passenger trains arriving from toronto or chicago, but for regional rail it will only get you as far as Ann Arbor. You would then have to hop a bus to get to a more central area. How many people are going to take the train to go to Slows? LOSE

The $100's of millions spent on MCS means $100's of millions not spent on providing transit vehicles. There is no magical pot of money. Without an RTA, there will be no money or no manager for the building. LOSE

Your link still requires an RTA to be the agency that contracts service and coordinate it with other transit services in New Orleans. LOSE

Detroit's last train station is not centrally located like Terminal Tower, Grand Central Station or Union Station. This means transfers to get to places where in other cities a train traveller can walk. Transfers add time to the service making them less desirable. LOSE

Your best bet to save this building is to a). have an owner with vision. b). re-purpose the building to a modern use as it was never built to be a regional rail hub and won't work as one.

You need to have the governmental structure and the funding first, then start to put together a rational transit system. Right now we don't have either.

[Richard]

I guess I am pissing in the wind, do a search on what Veolia does worldwide
go to the FTA website then have a few conversations with Mr Lahood ,but I digress,good luck as the straight and narrow path seems to be working so well.
And that is the only path advailable .

[DetroitPlanner]

Mr. LaHood would not allow light rail on Woodward due to concerns that we could not afford to build it and run the buses to feed it. I could only imagine what he would due if we proposed to use 5307 to fix up a train station like that in an area with little population density! I think you need to either spend your own money or wait till we have a well funded RTA.

[brizee]

We've got about another month before federal elections.

Ray La Hood may be finding himself out of work.

And both of these initiatives are really just gonna rot on the vine...

[Hermod]

I guess I am pissing in the wind, do a search on what Veolia does worldwide go to the FTA website then have a few conversations with Mr Lahood ,but I digress,good luck as the straight and narrow path seems to be working so well. And that is the only path advailable .

Richard: For what it is worth, I am a train enthusiast. Even as such, I can see no future for MCS as a transportation hub. Let me list the reasons.

1. MCS is not centrally located. the reson for this are the requirements for distance to get the trains up out of the tunnel on a reasonable grade. As a result, MCS was built too far from downtown 9at a time when frequent city service was available for transfer downtown).

2. MCS was not built just to be a train station. The building was built to be the corporate headquarters of the Michigan Central subsidiary of the New York Central [[which railroad operated in a decentralized fashion which created the need for larger offices for its subsidiaries).

3. The train station thus carries multiple stories of offices for the corporate staff as well as a small army of car clerks, freight clerks, traffic clerks, and others whose jobs have been made obsolete by technology. Economically,
any plan to use MCS as a transport facility will also require the rehabilitation and renting out of the office space or the transport facility will be carrying too much overhead.

4. Assuming [[big assumption) that downtown gets built out enough to the point where it becomes feasible to develop MCS as an office building, it may serve as a stop on some transit line at that point. Until it is a going concern as an office high rise [[or some of the "affordable apartments" people are screaming for), look for MCS to remain as is.

[DetroitPlanner]

Mr. LaHood does not control the RTA, the state does. Incidentally its moving forward again.
http://smcg.informz.net/admin31/cont...57991&ptid=880

[masterblaster]

Why is it so hard to pass a scrapping bill? Why is there so little interest? A large constituency of this website are avid historic preservationists. I propose we spearhead a campaign to pressure the lawmakers to pass this bill. Would anyone be interested in getting involved? The scrapping is getting ridiculously, it is destroying houses and other structures all over the city, making them prohibitively expensive to restore/rehabilitate them.

[brizee]

Why is it so hard to pass a scrapping bill? Why is there so little interest? A large constituency of this website are avid historic preservationists. I propose we spearhead a campaign to pressure the lawmakers to pass this bill. Would anyone be interested in getting involved? The scrapping is getting ridiculously, it is destroying houses and other structures all over the city, making them prohibitively expensive to restore/rehabilitate them.

I know I won't purchase any property here until it gets put under control.

And it does seem like it should have been an easy noncontroversial bipartisan win but...

[Sandhouse]

Anyone who's near their computer on their lunch hour on Thursday the 27th can see how the RTA bills go over in the House Transportation Committee, starting at noon. Just call up the Michigan Legislature web site at legislature.mi.gov and click on "House audio/video." Don't expect any action, though, and probably time for just limited testimony. The RTA bills are part of a long agenda of other stuff.

[Hypestyles]

i don't expect the GOP-dominated state legislature to move forward on a transit authority.. Not when this "two thirds majority to approve any tax changes" proposition is hovering nearby.. if it passes, that seemingly kills any formalized RTA plan, which would have tax-revenue collection context to its operation..

as far as scrapping.. I guess most state legislators feel that as long as their own homes and businesses aren't being pilfered [[especially since many folks tend to assume this only goes on in "lower-class" districts), then it's neither here nor there to them.. I don't know if any of them are so far-gone as to rationalize that recycling centers who look the other way are blameless "job creators who need support, not punishment"

I guess we'll see what happens [[or not...)

[brizee]

i don't expect the GOP-dominated state legislature to move forward on a transit authority.. Not when this "two thirds majority to approve any tax changes" proposition is hovering nearby.. if it passes, that seemingly kills any formalized RTA plan, which would have tax-revenue collection context to its operation..

as far as scrapping.. I guess most state legislators feel that as long as their own homes and businesses aren't being pilfered [[especially since many folks tend to assume this only goes on in "lower-class" districts), then it's neither here nor there to them.. I don't know if any of them are so far-gone as to rationalize that recycling centers who look the other way are blameless "job creators who need support, not punishment"

I guess we'll see what happens [[or not...)

AYAYAYAYAY this fucking state.

I honestly hope legislators aren't so selfish that they wouldn't vote against a measure that literally does not hurt or cost them in any way.

[begingri]

Hackel to tout regional transit in Lansing today

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2012120927029

[Zaiko]

NPR and internet reporting today at the House transportation committee:

http://www.michigannow.org/2012/09/2...alley-workers/

http://www.michigannow.org/2012/09/2...ading-for-rta/

[brizee]

1. Detroit's head continues to remain lodged in it's ass.

2. How in the BLUE FUCK can you not pass an anti scrapping bill? Who has a problem with this?

[laphoque]

I am sure the council will override Couzens's veto of the subway system. With the city growing so fast, people need to get around even faster. It just makes sense that we'd build a subway.

*wakes up* Woah. Sorry, fell asleep on the keyboard and my dreams typed that. It makes sense that James Couzens would have portions of the lodge's service drives named after him. That shortsighted no good tomfool.

[brizee]

So LaHood probably isn't going anywhere too soon. There's still a possibility something could get done if people would just dislodge their heads from their anal crevasse.

I wonder if the transportation bills will be killed in revenge for the dictator law going down.

As I remember one of the last things Engler did was veto DARTA legislation as payback[[he did a lot of damage on his way out didn't he?).

It's already been said a backup law was already written. I wonder if they have the balls to ram that through while the transportation bills die on the vine[[I'm convinced scrappers/junkyard somehow have more rights than property owners in the house/senates eyes).

[Richard]

So LaHood probably isn't going anywhere too soon. scrappers/junkyard somehow have more rights than property owners in the house/senates eyes).

He was going to retire at the end of the term,I asked him if he was going to stick around and should have a reply shortly maybe he will hang in there a bit longer,he is really a great person when it comes to mass transport, but having said that the currant administration is very pro light rail so who ever replaces Mr. LaHood should he leave,will also help to move forward.

I agree with you on the scrapping issues maybe if somebody "scrapped" one of their million dollar homes they would see what the rest of the world is like and the massive impact is has.

I think maybe the best way for light rail to move forward in Detroit is for the city to sell even if it is for $1 the exclusive rights to privatize an interurban system within the city,the private company could then be free of all the red tape and form a coalition or self RTA and coordinate with those areas or burbs that choose to get on board.You could have cars on the road within a year.

[brizee]

It appears at least a few legislators are pushing for better public transit.

And it's a Detroit senator endorsing it.

Contrary to that Detroit is the one holding it up nonsense posted a few weeks ago.

[brizee]

Could there be movement soon?

Might just be blowing smoke, but an email doesn't cost anything.

Not that I'm all that optimistic.

[begingri]

$25M in funds for transit in jeopardy

Factionalism threatens approval of a regional authority by the Legislature in lame-duck session

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2DRYC10mL